Badminton

Overview

Detailed rules and classifications of impairment for the Paralympic Games have not yet been specified.

Badminton Dream Match in Fukuoka (2012)

The existing general rules are as shown below: The rules for para-badminton are almost the same as those for badminton at the Olympic Games. A match consists of the best of three games of 21 points. The first side to win two games wins the match. However, there are special rules for para-badminton including the following: for wheelchair singles events, only a half court area is used; and upon hitting the shuttlecock, a part of the player's trunk must have contact with the seat of the wheelchair. This sport is divided into three categories (Standing Upper, Standing Lower, and Wheelchair) according to the extent of the athletes' impairment, and further into six classes according to the level of the athletes' impairment. In each class, singles (men and women), doubles (men and women), and mixed doubles events are held.

History

Badminton originated in the UK in the mid-19th century and gradually spread around the world. In 1934, the International Badminton Federation (IBF) was established by the UK and other pioneers in badminton, including Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands, and France. Badminton will become an official sport for the first time at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. In September 2006, the International Badminton Federation changed its name to the Badminton World Federation.